Report: ABC Passes on Reba McEntire TV Drama ‘Red Blooded’

Sheriff Reba McEntire will not be coming to network television this fall, but the hopes and dreams of her Southern gothic soap opera aren't completely dead. Red Blooded may still find a home.

The show is one of a few that ABC passed on, according to Deadline. McEntire was going to play Sheriff Ruby Adair, a "dark character" with flaws and demons. She told CMT's Cody Alan about it earlier this year, and fans captured photos of the pilot being shot in Georgia. The series is set in the small town of Oxblood, Ky.

Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reports that ABC Studios is shopping the show to a cable affiliate, perhaps CMT or Lifetime. There has been no official statement made by ABC, and McEntire has remained quiet about the show on social media. Thus far she's not tweeted much about the project, but spoke about it with enthusiasm in interviews. In January she talked about the process while on Taste of Country Nights radio, saying memorizing lines has always been a challenge for her.

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"Thank goodness they have a lot of characters in this script... What I do is repetition and try to make it as conversational as it can be and practice a lot," she says.

Previously McEntire starred in Reba and a short-lived ABC comedy called Malibu Country. She continues to produce music. Earlier this year she released her first ever gospel album. Sing It Now: Songs of Faith & Hope earned rave critical reviews.

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